Newsletter 17/02/2025: Term 1, Week 4

From the Principal

What a week! The staff attended a very informative professional development day at school on Tuesday, in regards to Structured Literacy.  We are all very excited to continue with more learning about this exciting new initiative and we will let you know more very soon. 

Our opening Liturgy on Friday was not only a chance to give thanks for our school community and our beautiful school, but also honour our new Grade Six leaders who received their Leadership badges. As a new member of the St Patrick’s community, I was proud to witness our students sing and engage in the Liturgy with such reverence. Thank you families for attending a wonderful service, honouring our leaders and traditionally blessing our Foundation students.

We look forward to a fantastic time at the pool on Wednesday with the Year 3 to 6 Swimming Carnival to make the most of our swimming fun this Term. I wish all of our competitors luck for their efforts and hopefully see you cheering on the children.

Have an enjoyable week,

Darren Lloyd

Week 4 Prayer

This year is a Jubilee year in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has set the theme as Pilgrims of Hope, so fitting in our turbulent, and at times, unsettled world. We will have a strong focus on hope here at school, such an important way to see life, that there is always hope even in our darkest times. We can certainly do our bit here at school! We will have more details and information as the year goes on.

Prayer for the Jubilee Year: Pilgrims of Hope

Lord Jesus,
As we journey through this Jubilee year,
guide us as pilgrims of hope.
Help us to walk in faith,
trusting in Your promise of peace and renewal.
May we carry Your light in our hearts,
and share it with those we meet on the way.
Grant us strength to persevere in love and mercy,
and a deeper connection to our brothers and sisters.
May this year of grace lead us closer to You
and fill us with the hope of eternal life.
Through Mary, our Blessed Mother,
we offer our prayers, trusting in Your mercy.

Amen.

Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser

Thank you to our Parents & Friends committee and volunteers for their hard work with our Bunnings BBQ on Saturday.

A fantastic effort for Belinda and her band of helpers.

The BBQ made approximately $1,100 for our school.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL CULTURE

Parish Bulletin

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Foundation Rest Days

We encourage families to take the opportunity to ensure these days are restful day for their children to avoid the physical demands of beginning school life. 

The foundation students have the remaining days off in term 1 as part of their transition to school:

Week 4 - Wednesday, 19th February 2025

Week 5 - Wednesday, 26th February 2025

                                                              Week 6 - Wednesday, 5th March 2025

From Week 7 onwards foundation students will attend the whole week. 

Foundation Information Session

An information session for Foundation parents will be held tomorrow, Tuesday the 18th of February at 2.30pm.

This session will take place in the Foundation rooms.

PAM Accounts

Can all parents/guardians please log onto PAM and complete all the connect fields required for 2025 for your child/ren.

Grade 3-6 Swimming

This is our final week of swimming. The 3-6's swam today & will swim tomorrow,  with the Swimming Carnival to be held on Wednesday the 19th of February.

Please find the timetable below, we will share a carnival running sheet soon.

WELLBEING

LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP

Family Assistance Scheme

Family Assistance Scheme ~ are you eligible?

The Family Assistance Scheme introduced by the Catholic Diocese which reduces your Tuition fee to $520 will continue this year. To be eligible you must produce a Commonwealth Health Care Card to the office (which we are required to photocopy) and complete an application form. This needs to be done by Friday 28th of February at the latest as no late applications are accepted.

If you received this last year, we do not require to see your HCC again, your details will roll over.

Conveyance Allowance

There is funding available for families if you have to travel more than 4.8km to pick-up or drop off students at Contract or College Bus pick-up points. Parents should apply for the reimbursement applicable through the Private Car Conveyance Allowance Application.

Please contact the office if you think you may be eligible.

School Fees

Our preferred options for payment of school fees are an upfront payment or for families to set up a direct debit through the school.  Direct debits can be done weekly, fortnightly or monthly.  Please contact the office to arrange this.

School fees are payable by the end of October each year.

School Hat Reminder

This is a friendly reminder to send your child with their named school hat to school during Term 1 as the weather is warm and the children are not allowed outside without one.

Zooper Dooper Sales

Throughout Term 1 the Student Representative Council will be selling Zooper Doopers to raise money for the school.

These will only be sold at second lunch.

The cost will be 50 cents each.

Upcoming Events

Some important dates for your calender for Term 1.

Wednesday 19/02               Swimming Carnival

Friday 28/02                         Division Swimming

Mon-Fri 03/03/-07/03    Dental Van visiting for the week

Monday 10/03                      Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 11/03                       Athletics Carnival

Friday 21/03                          St Patrick's Day Celebration

Wed-Fri 26/3-28/3           Grade 5 Portsea Camp

Wednesday 26/03               MRC Open Day

Friday 28/03                         MRC Taster Day

Tuesday 01/04                      District Athletics

Friday 04/04                         Last Day of Term

Noone's Uniform

Noone's have stock of our new uniform available for purchase. Please note that some of the items in some sizes are on back order!

The shop is located in the Mercy Regional College building.

In Term 1 the uniform shop is open on the following days -

Monday 12.00pm - 4.00pm, Tuesday 8.00am - 12.00pm & Thursday 8.00am - 12.00pm

Canteen

The canteen will continue to be closed on a Monday this year.

The canteen will be open to students every Friday at first lunch.

We still strongly encourage parents & students to order lunch through the Spriggy app, however students will also be permitted to purchase extra snacks using cash each Friday during their break.

Please download the Spriggy App and make your orders through there. Please make sure that you choose the right classroom for your child/ren.

The menu for 2025 is below.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week.

Molly G

TheirCare

Theircare has now commenced at St Patrick's School and it's not too late to enrol.

We are excited to announce that we have now partnered with an independent Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) provider called TheirCare.

TheirCare provides a stimulating and safe environment for all children. During sessions, children develop life-skills, friendships, confidence, and creativity through play-based programs.

For further information, visit www.theircare.com.au or call our support office on 1300 072 410

Community Events

Simpson Netball

NAB Bank

Cobden FNC - Juniors

Thank you to the sponsors of our raffle!